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i forgot to add paragraphs in my english literature exam

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Reply 20
Miserable Colours
do i loose marks? or does it not matter as it is only english lit!?


i totally forgot!! im completly and utterly stupid


Funnily enough I did the same thing 3 years ago. Was really stressing and then ended up getting a B! So I think some examiners may be more lenient than others because I wrote some good stuff, so they may have thought he just forgot to put in paragraphs.
Reply 21
so you just wrote every sentence one after the other?? wow you must have been focused on what you were writing not to notice a total lack of paragraphs for a whole essay. i would hate to be that examiner.

hopefully if what you wrote was good it should compensate some, but i think you will lose marks for that. not sure about 'can't get above a C' though, be a bit harsh.
You will probably be OK
Reply 23
Hope you don't mind me asking, but how can you forget to put paragraphs in?

Do you mean you just didn't leave a line between each paragraph, or that you literally wrote in one huge block of text?
Does anyone know if not finishing your conclusion will cost you marks?
Reply 25
Getting a C just because you forgot to paragraph is complete *******s! Seriously! Where in the blue moon did your teacher hear that from? Someone can write a brilliant essay and forget to include paragraphs, and ends up getting a C. Another person writes an average essay with paragraphing and gets a B. A little unfair isn't it? Examiners aren't that cruel. If your essay was good, don't worry about it. Of course it might affect your marks a little bit, but these things happen under the pressure.

I completely blanked out on one of the questions under the pressure and ended up writing a bunch of crap. Hopefully it might have been ok...
Reply 26
AsphyxiateD
How can you forget to paragraph? I wouldn't be able to look at one huge block of text logically...


That's what I was thinking.

Nothing you can do now, but don't expect a really good grade because it's all part of writing a good essay- structure. And just a block of words? Not what anyone really wants to read.
It's also important for the examiner. Seperate paragraphs for each point seperate the essay for them, make it easier to read and easier to pick out each of the points you make.

Sorry, my commiserations, you'll do better next time :frown:
I think it will make a difference to your mark, but perhaps not so much as it would have done if it was an English exam. They are marking you mainly on how well you understand the set texts/poems etc, but a clear lack of stucture may not go down too well with the examiners. Just remember to include paragraphs next time! Good luck anyway.
Reply 29
Surely if you are good at english you should naturally know when to put a paragraph in? I dunno, it just seems like common sense to me, it isn't something you should have to 'remember' to do. Sorry if i offended anyone, wasn't meant nastily :smile:
Reply 30
People seem to be a little overly pessimistic about the situation. Like I FEEL SO BAD FOR YOU! YOU'RE GONNA FAAAAAAIL (a little bit exaggerated).

No, being able to include paragraphs doesn't take away 10 marks from your exam. I would think 2 at the most, if not 1. Being able to write paragraphs does not equate to being a good writer. The examiner is much more concerned about content - your thinking process. If you forgot to include paragraphs in the language exam then they would care more, but for God's sake, this is the literature exam and they want to see how well you can interpret the novel and think critically about important aspects of it.

I'm really surprised by some of these comments. People are like "I want to be honest with you, but this is seriously gonna kill your grade. Don't expect a good grade". Don't expect a good grade? WTF? You can expect an A* if you wrote a good essay. The examiner is not gonna be like "oh my gawwddd! He didn't include paragraphs! How can someone be so stupid! Even though he got an A* according to the mark scheme, I'm just gonna lower his grade a bit". Forgetting to include paragraphs is common under the pressure of examinations, and the examiners realize that.
The 'no more than C' scare-mongering probably comes from the mark schemes which group a whole bunch of, say, "grade-B-level-ish" characteristics together for each group of marks, as a very rough guide. I think those do include stuff like paragraphing, but not every part of your answer will fall into the same place on the scale, so it's not at all black-and-white, and you don't have to do every thing normally expected of a grade [x] answer to get that grade. Don't worry too much, it shouldn't be a huge deal!
You can not get above a Grade C without paragraphs, although if your work was extremely well written and you have A/A* couseworks you will probably achieve a B if not a low A. As coursework is 30% of the mark, I doubt you will achieve the A* grade, but an A or B is very good. :smile:

Don't worry too much, otherwise you will stress yourself out over it. The results aren't until August and you can't do anything to change it now, unfortunately. :frown:

Did you get good coursework grades? :confused:
Reply 33
I think I did something similar, except at the very end when I was about to start the conclusion I realised I have no paragraphing and I did a paragraph for the conclusion. I can't remember if it was English Lit or Lang though. I ended up getting an A in Lit and an A* in language.

Couldn't you ask your teacher?
Reply 34
As BurningSnowman said. If under the "C" category it says "hasn't used paragraphs", that doesn't mean that he can't get above a C. What if everything else he did fell under the category of an "A*" grade? Would they give him a C solely on the basis that he didn't use paragraphs? No, they'd balance it out, and he certainly wouldn't get a C. You're not meant to take mark schemes so literally in that not achieving one of the grade criterion means that you can't achieve higher than that grade.
Reply 35
Maybe you just wouldn't be given the extra spelling and grammar marks
When I was at school I got told that you couldn't get above a C if you had no paragraphs.
Don't know whether this is true or not though :s-smilie:
Three marks only for spelling, grammar and punctuation. That includes presentation of the work.

Try not to worry.
Thanks everyone for the help

And for those who asked why i have forgotten to use paragraphs it was because i was so rushed into doing it and i was under a lot of pressure and it completely crossed my mind. I have learnt from my mistake and now i have started to put paragraphs for all my for the exams after that.
...it's a bit stupid if you can't get more than a C...

If you write an A* grade piece of work... paragraphs won't make you drop to a C... surely? It's just presentation and not the actual content...

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